The Black-Footed Ferret
by Sabine P.
Did you know that black-footed ferrets are almost extinct? Black-footed ferrets have a strange appearance of black feet and a black mask, have a behavior unlike any other animal and live in prairie dog towns. They also have the cutest baby ferrets called kits and are (sadly) endangered.
The black-footed ferret’s name perfectly fits its appearance because- yep, you guessed it- they have black feet! That’s not the only thing black on the cute little ferret, though. They also have a black mask across their small face, and a black tip on the end of their very long tail. Their short fur is a dull yellow, similar to the domestic ferrets’. Their throat, belly and face are nearly white. A black-footed ferret also has whiskers. And here’s an interesting fact: the females are 10% smaller than the males! The average scale for a male is 20 to 24 inches long, with a five to six inch long tail. The average size for a female is 18 to 20 inches long. They both weigh approximately 2 ½ pounds. These small creatures sure have a strange appearance!
The behavior of the black-footed ferret is also very strange, because it eats only one main source of food and is a very solitary animal until mating season. Their prime source of food is prairie dogs, but if they have to eat something else, they will eat plants or bugs. These nocturnal animals are vocal and will scare away predators and invaders of their home by making a "girring" noise or spraying a strong stench from under its tail just like a skunk does. Males are more active than females, and though both do not hibernate they are less active in the winter. The average life span for a black-footed ferret is three to four years in the wild but eight to nine years in captivity. This shows that these fabulous ferrets are more protected in the captivity than in the wild.
Believe it or not, the black-footed ferret is actually the only ferret born in North America. Because they eat prairie dogs, black-footed ferrets live in prairie dog towns in the United States. They build burrows like prairie dogs themselves. Its range is from Arizona to Texas and most states north of them. They like grassy areas, but only spend a few minutes above ground each day.
In my opinion, kits (baby ferrets) are so cute! The cycle starts at breeding season in March and April. 41 to 43 days later, the small, sightless kits are born. They weigh five to nine grams and are helpless at birth. The average litter size is three to four kits, and (poor mom!) the female of the family takes care of all of them! After three or four years they are ready for reproduction and the cycle starts all over again.
Unfortunately, the black-footed ferret is endangered. Endangered means there are not many more of that species left. There are many reasons why the ferret is endangered. There are not enough prairie dogs to go around because many people kill them and they are pests to farmers. Also, the ferrets have many predators including foxes and prairie falcons. Another reason is diseases. The most serious ones are canine distemper and sylvatic plague. Black-footed ferrets lose their habitats when people make. Farmers kill ferrets with poison because they eat the farmers’ crops just like prairie dogs. They are also run over by cars. Believe it or not, in 1986 there were only 18 black-footed ferrets left in the wild! Even though we can’t make all the ferrets come back to life, we can work hard to take them off the endangered list. There are some programs that help ferrets and other endangered animals such as the Black-Footed Ferret Recovery Program. People have made laws to stop hunters from shooting some animals on the endangered list. We can try to stop pollution and be more careful about what we do. Quick! Black-footed ferrets are in trouble.
As you can see, black-footed ferrets are cute, furry animals with a strange appearance and are almost extinct. Though they are endangered, we can still help them. Black-footed ferrets need our help.